When assembling protective modules for forming a water protection barrier, for example in flooded areas, it is essential that the assembly work can be carried out swiftly and smoothly in order to minimize the damage that the water may cause. It is also important that the barrier, besides allowing rapid assembly, is robust and impact resistant.
Swedish patent no. 9502817 discloses a barrier made up of conventional loading pallets, which are made to lean against braces for forming of a barrier. A tarpaulin is draped over the loading pallets to make the barrier watertight. The tarpaulin extends a certain distance in front of the barrier and is attached to the loading pallets by means of, for instance, clips or nails and is anchored, for instance, with the aid of sandbags arranged on top of the portion of the tarpaulin that is located in front of the barrier. A drawback of the solution according to SE 9502817 is that the barrier is made up of many different parts, which means that the assembly work includes quite a number of different time-consuming operations. The pallets forming part of the barrier are arranged so as to lean by themselves against the braces.
EP 1 262 602 discloses a barrier made up of panels that are supported in a raised position by a supporting frame to which the panels are attached by snapping. A foil is stretched over several panels in such a manner that the whole surface of the panels is covered, whereby the interspaces between the panels are sealed. A drawback of the solution described in EP 1 262 602 is that a plurality of separate parts are needed to form a complete barrier, which results in a relatively expensive solution and a relatively unwieldy barrier. The panels are held together by means of the supporting frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,711 discloses a barrier comprising panels and braces. Each panel is provided with a slot for insertion of a joining strip. A drawback of this solution is that it involves several constituent parts and that it can only be extended horizontally. The panels are held in place by means of two holes formed in one panel and two plugs arranged in a corresponding panel, which makes it easy to separate the panels.
Compared with currently available alternatives, there is a need for a protective module which is designed such that a barrier can be rapidly, smoothly and safely formed when assembling two or more protective modules of this kind.